Disability Research News

The study shows that one in four adults in the US reports having at least one disability. Mobility disabilities were most prevalent, followed by cognition, independent living, hearing, vision, and self-care. Rates varied among age groups, genders, and racial and ethnic groups. The study also found that adults with disabilities, particularly those between 18 and 64, experienced disparities in access to health care, such as health insurance coverage, having a usual health care provider, and receiving a check-up during the last year.

This toolkit provides suggestions for promoting community living and participation of individuals with mental health conditions through social media and web-based communication. It examines how agencies can use websites, newsletters, and various social media platforms to: (1) connect individuals to mainstream community resources; (2) highlight instances of community participation; and (3) stay active in producing community inclusion related content on their online media.

People who are blind or visually impaired have lower employment rates than people without disabilities. Many people with visual impairment are unable to drive. As a result, they may face additional challenges in finding reliable transportation to get to and from work, which can limit their options for employment. Orientation and mobility (O&M) instructors can teach children and adults who are blind or visually impaired to travel safely on foot and to use public transportation.

Wheelchair breakdowns can injure wheelchair users and limit mobility and social participation. Poor wheelchair maintenance increases the risk of wheelchair breakdowns and personal injury or death, and increases the costs of medical care. The number of users injured from wheelchair breakdowns doubled from 1991 to 2016. According to a 2016 study, up to 18% of wheelchair users experience a wheelchair-related injury each year. Furthermore, 44–57% reported at least one wheelchair breakdown in the past 6 months.

Kessler Foundation and University of New Hampshire release nTIDE Report – Monthly Update: 

A report presenting the results of the Family & Individual Needs for Disability Supports (FINDS) survey, launched in 2017 by ICI's Research and Training Center on Community Living in collaboration with The Arc of the United States to assess the status of caregivers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the United States. The survey and resulting Community Report shed light on the experiences of families who provide supports to a family member with I/DD.

Many different groups of people are subject to stereotypes. Positive stereotypes (e.g., “older and wiser”) may provide a benefit to the relevant groups. However, negative stereotypes of aging and of disability continue to persist and, in some cases, remain socially acceptable. Research has shown that when exposed to negative images of aging, older persons demonstrate poor physical and cognitive performance and function, while those who are exposed to positive images of aging (or who have positive self-perceptions of aging) demonstrate better performance and function.

A Transportation Guide for Persons who are Blind or Have Low Vision contains helpful information about finding and using transportation options, and is designed for persons with vision impairments or those who serve them. Forward the link or print copies of the document as needed. Students or researchers may prefer to use the version with in-text citations, located on our Publications for Download page at https://www.blind.msstate.edu/research/nrtc-publications/download/.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking public comment on amending its Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) regulation on the transportation of service animals. Comments are due by July 9th via mail, fax, hand delivery, or through the regulations.gov portal.

Publication: Rehospitalization Over 10 Years Among Survivors of TBI: A National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study

Accessible Transportation Symposium

NIDILRR has published a Funding Opportunity Announcement for the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program: Research on Opioid Use Disorder Among People with Disabilities. NIDILRR proposes to fund two DRRPs of three years each to conduct research on opioid use disorder among people with disabilities.

Pre-Injury Factors May Matter More Than Injury Severity When Predicting Outcomes after a Traumatic Brain Injury
This reserach looks at some of the factors that can impact recovery from traumatic brain injury, some of which occur before the injury even happens.

Vocational Rehabilitation May Help People with HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorder Overcome Employment Challenges
This research looks at how vocational rehabilitation (VR) services can support people with HIV who also have substance use disorders, and whether these programs meet the needs of clients from minority groups.

Let’s Talk Employment - A Guide for Family Members of Individuals in Mental Health Recovery.

About 1.1 million Americans are legally blind, meaning that, even with corrective lenses or surgery, they may not be able to clearly see the largest letter on a standard eye chart at 20 feet or they may only see what appears either in their central or peripheral vision, but not both. As a result, these individuals may have difficulty with job-related tasks. Compared with other disability groups, people who are legally blind are more likely to graduate from college.

The NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Advancing Employment for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities has published a report, A Purpose...

Researchers from the NIDILRR-funded Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC: Rural) recently published a post, Poverty and Disability: At the Intersection of...

People with psychiatric disabilities have conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression. These individuals may encounter stigmatizing attitudes or behaviors from people around them. Forms of such stigma may be overt, such as denying a job to a candidate with a psychiatric disability, or they may be less obvious, like moving away from a person with a psychiatric disability on a bus. These forms of stigma may discourage people with psychiatric disabilities from getting out and doing things in their communities.

How do stereotypes affect the health and independence of aging adults and those with disabilities? How do they impact the industries that interact with these populations? And what are some opportunities to disrupt the narrative and change perceptions of what it means to be older or have a disability?

Researchers at the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Improving Measurement of Medical Rehabilitation Outcomes surveyed 250 people ages between 18-85 years old as a part of a larger study. The researchers found that, in general, the participants who used walking aids rated their devices as more reliable and easier to maintain or repair than the participants who used wheeled mobility devices. 

The Annual Disability Statistics Compendium is a web-based tool that pools disability statistics published by various federal agencies together in one place. When working on legislative and other matters relating to persons with disabilities, the Compendium will make finding and using disability statistics easier.

The NIDILRR-funded Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research (KTER) has released the newest version of the Employment Research Database, which features research related to the employment of people with disabilities.

To determine the efficacy of a web-based transfer training module at improving transfer technique across 3 groups: web-based training, in-person training (current standard of practice), and a waitlist control group (WLCG); and secondarily, to determine subject factors that can be used to predict improvements in transfer ability after training.

The purpose of this Action Planning Guide is to support the community's efforts to plan for enhancing community participation among people with disabilities. We hope this guide will be useful to anyone interested in bringing about community change and improvement, but it may be particularly helpful for staff of Centers for Independent Living and other community-based organizations who will operate as facilitators of these processes.